Football: Kenya wins inaugural Southampton U14 Shield

SOUTHAMPTON UNDER 14 SHIELD TOURNAMENT Kenya National U13 Football Team which won the inaugural Southampton U14 Shield Tournament in 2017. [Courtesy]

The Kenya national U13 football team are the winners of the Inaugural Southampton U14 Shield tournament.

The team made history by becoming Kenya’s first ever national junior side to win silverware in Europe, edging out Ormer 2-1 in the Shield finals at the weekend.

“We are happy that we won,” said Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Technical Director Andreas Spier.

“Winning is, however, not the most important thing at this level. We are focused on the development of the players and have taken great lessons from the tournament that we will take back home to try and bridge the gap between ourselves and top academies in Europe,” Spier said.

Earlier, FKF CEO Robert Muthomi had termed the tournament a step in the right direction, saying: “The federation remains committed to developing youth football and it is our belief that this trip marks a new chapter.

“We are grateful to SportPesa and Southampton for making the trip a reality, even as we strive to continue leveraging on SportPesa’s overseas partnerships to underpin football development,” Muthomi said. [Standard Sports]